I am wondering how many people here tend to listen to music through things like Spotify or would rather have a copy of the song on their computer to be played through iTunes (or other music players). I don't care if you download songs illegally, I'm more interested in whether you prefer "having" the songs (physically on your computer or phone" or streaming them 🙂
Eg:
Streaming = Listening on YouTube, Spotify etc Having = Purchasing off Beatport or iTunes etc or converting YouTube to mp3 (I'm more interested if people are moving towards streaming or actually want songs on their devices (so you can play it anywhere any time) so I'm not really fussed on how you get them 😛 )
I prefer having the songs on my computer or external harddrive, than streaming. Though streaming does allow me to experience new songs that I haven't heard yet. 🙂
I rarely ever download songs on my computer, only listen to them via sites like Jango. Only time I ever download a song is I want to use part of it for something.
I have spotify premium. I understand that I don't own the songs and only have use of them while I keep my account (or until they remove the song). However Spotify is much more cost effective. I have over 1000 songs downloaded / available offline. I'd be paying waay more than the effective $10 a month I pay (because it's bundled into my mobile). The spotify apps great and I can also get access to all my songs on webplayer.
I prefer to stream music rather than having the song. The reason I like to stream rather than have the song is because they are free and you can search for any songs/artist and play them.
I prefer to have it stored on my device so I can play it over and over without worrying about connection or such. I usually play songs when bored or before sleep so not really connected to internet. Owning it on device will be best solution. Though if I don't like the song that much, I listen to it occasionally and do so by streaming usually.
I have a collection on my phone, of 50 songs. I do like to stream music from Youtube from time to time also. Having the song is much better, you can enjoy it anywhere you may be. 😛
I used to get my songs from iTunes until Apple Music came. I never really liked Spotify's user interface – and unfortunately Apple Music doesn't have it good in certain areas either – however, it integrates so well with my computer and phone that it's bearable. It's like the songs are part of your actual library because you're able to download them and it stays in your library along with the rest of the songs you actually purchased, or at least that's how it is as long as your subscription continues, anyway.
If I end up liking a song then it still gets purchased in iTunes regardless of my subscription. I really think those songs are worth having. I mostly download all my songs from Apple Music since LTE is unreliable around my area; you will regret relying solely on streaming. Having your music in the cloud is good if you're in a place where Wi-Fi (or at least guaranteed to have a working 3G/LTE) is prevalent, otherwise you might as well pony up for a phone with high storage space.
So I've always been the kind of guy to have all of my music organized in folders and the put and sorted into iTunes with all the cover art and all that. However, with me recently switching to using Spotify a lot, I gotta say, I might have switched. For $10 a month I get all of my playlists, they basically organize themselves, I get radio stations with ZERO ads, and I get creative freedom over whatever playlists I want. Oh and I get to share with other friends and users who make their own playlists.
I'm still a little torn, but as of right now I like my Spotify.
